Starter quiz
What was the name of the Soviet leader who signed SALT I with President Nixon in 1972?- 'Brezhnev' ✓
- What did USSR stand for?
- Union of Socialist Soviet Republics
- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ✓
- United Soviet Socialist Revolution
- United Soviet Socialist Republics
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- Which country had the USSR invaded in December 1979, leading to increasing tensions between the superpowers?
- Afghanistan ✓
- Cuba
- Grenada
- Hungary
- Iran
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- Part of the reason for Reagan's SDI strategy was the hope that even more investment into military technology would cause what to collapse?
- the Soviet economy ✓
- the Soviet diplomatic relationship with China
- the Soviet Space programme
- the Warsaw Pact
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- By the 1980s, living ______ in the USSR and its satellite states were well below those of the USA and its allies.
- 'standards' ✓
- Put these leaders of the Soviet Union in chronological order of their premierships.
- 1⇔Joseph Stalin
- 2⇔Nikita Khrushchev
- 3⇔Leonid Brezhnev
- 4⇔Yuri Andropov
- 5⇔Konstantin Chernenko
Exit quiz
- Who took over the leadership of the USSR after Brezhnev's death in 1982?
- Yuri Andropov ✓
- Konstantin Chernenko
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Nikita Khrushchev
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- What was the name of the Polish trade union led by Lech Wałęsa?
- 'Solidarity' ✓
- What does 'perestroika' mean in Russian?
- continuity; keeping things the same
- democracy
- living standards
- reconstruction ✓
- three year planning
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- What is the Russian word for 'openness': the name of the policy that aimed to promote greater transparency and freedom of expression in Soviet society?
- 'glasnost' ✓
- President Reagan of the USA recognised that Gorbachev was genuinely open to reform and as a result discussions began to reduce tensions between the superpowers. What did those discussions focus on?
- independence for European satellite states
- human rights (including trade union rights)
- nuclear disarmament ✓
- trade deals
- space research
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- Put these summits involving Reagan and Gorbachev in chronological order.
- 1⇔Geneva Summit
- 2⇔Reykjavik Summit
- 3⇔Washington Summit
- 4⇔Moscow Summit
Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- By the mid-1980s, the USSR was facing a range of serious problems.
- Gorbachev became Soviet leader in March 1985, determined to reform communism in the USSR.
- Through his policy of perestroika, Gorbachev reorganised and restructured the Soviet state.
- Through Gorbachev's policy of glasnost, the USSR adopted a more open approach to government and foreign relations.
- Reagan worked with Gorbachev to reduce Cold War tensions and important steps were taken to limit nuclear weapons.
Common misconception
Gorbachev succeeded Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union in March 1985.
Brezhnev died in November 1982. Following his death, the Soviet Union was ruled by two leaders who were in poor health and ruled only briefly: Yuri Andropov (November 1982 - February 1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (February 1984 - March 1985).
Keywords
Standard of living - the level of wealth, comfort, and access to goods and services available to a person or community
Martial law - when the military takes over the normal functions of government in an emergency
Reform - to make changes in order to improve something
Market competition - when businesses compete to win customers by providing better products, services, or prices than others
Disarmament - the process of reducing or eliminating military forces and weapons to promote peace and security